1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor cable device capable of electrically connecting a motor and an inverter.
2. Background Art
Electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles include a motor serving as a power source, an inverter for generating three-phase alternating current which is required to drive the motor, and a motor cable device for connecting the motor and the inverter.
The motor cable device disclosed in Patent Document 1 below includes a cable body having a plurality of cables, a motor-side connection portion installed at one end portion of the cable body and serving as a connection portion of a motor, an inverter-side connection portion installed at the other end portion of the cable body and serving as a connection portion of an inverter, and a cable fixture installed at a middle portion of the cable body to fix the middle portion to a vehicle body.
The cable fixture is adapted to be fixed to the vehicle body using a dedicated attaching base and a dedicated fixing clamp. The cable fixture and the dedicated fixing base and fixing clamp are provided as fixing portions with respect to the vehicle body to suppress swing of the cable due to vibration or impact generated from the vehicle.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-2008-253017
However, the related art has the following problems. That is, there is a problem in that since the motor is the power source and also the vibration generating source, the generated vibration is transferred to the fixing portions through the cable body, and causes abnormal noise or damage the fixing portion if a structure clearance is big therein. In addition, there is another problem that there are cases where a fixing portion cannot be installed due to the structure of the vehicle.
The inventors came up with the idea of actively transferring the vibration generated from the motor or the vibration and impact generated from the vehicle to the cable body to swing the cable body, and absorbing the vibration or the like by the swing. In addition, the inventors think that since the fixing portion as Patent Document 1 can be made unnecessary by the above-mentioned idea, the problem can be solved.
However, in a case where there is a plurality of cable bodies, if the cable bodies swing, the cable bodies may be scratched due to interference between the cable bodies by the swing, and the cable bodies may collide with each other to have an influence on an electrical connection portion. In addition, in a case where there is a vehicle body or component in the vicinity of the cable body, the cable body may be damaged due to the interference between the cable body and the vehicle body or component.